Table of Contents
Research on the WFF ‘N PROOF Instructional Gaming Program - Page 2 Higher IQ Scores - Page 3 Increased Math Achievement - Page 4 “Low Ability” Students Improve the Most!” - Page 5 Dramatically Improved Attendance - Page 6 Increased Skill in Applying Math Ideas - Page 7 Dramatic Success in Reinforcing Specific Concepts through Simple Scoring Methods - Page 9 Future Directions for Research – the “Basic Skills Testing” Conundrum - Page 10 Study and Beta Test Schools Welcome - Page 11
Research on the WFF ‘N PROOF
Instructional Gaming Program.
The WFF ‘N PROOF series of games represent more
than forty years of research, development and testing.
These efforts has been focused on finding the most
effective methods to motivate and teach problem
solving, logical thinking, fundamental reasoning and
creative, divergent analysis. Profound and dramatic
changes in learning and life attitudes have been
observed in schools using these games. These results
come from three important discoveries*:
(1) Resource Allocation Games that allow students to
create a rich, interactive, problem-solving environment
involving a broad range of academic subject matter.
(2) Classroom Tournament Methods that generate
tremendous motivation and efficient dissemination
through peer teaching. Tournaments use carefully
adjusted competition to allow players of all ability
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levels to demonstrate meaningful success and receive positive, public reinforcement. (3) Special Game Rules and Scoring Methods that dramatically accelerate and deepen the acquisition of specific curriculum concepts. Constant, focused reinforcement of these concepts are provided through- out the school year.
Higher IQ Scores
The first studies published (in1972) on the effects of
resource allocation games involved IQ tests on groups
of students playing WFF ‘N PROOF: The Game of
Modern Logic intensively for three weeks in summer
school classes. The average increase in the non-verbal
I.Q. scores was more than 20 points. Although
researchers have questions about the sort of
intelligence actually measured by such tests, it is clear
that there was a dramatic improvement in the
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problem-solving skills utilized in such exercises.
Increased Math Achievement
The WFF ‘N PROOF game format was adapted to
mathematics in 1962 producing EQUATIONS: The
Game of Creative Mathematics. This allowed direct
focus on a broad range of the standard arithmetic and
pre-algebra curriculum. The refinement of classroom
tournament methods with EQUATIONS led (in 1972)
to studies on the combined effect on mathematics
achievement. Math classes in urban schools using
twice-a-week EQUATIONS tournaments for 9 weeks
showed average student achievement gains on
standardized tests that were more than double those
produced in conventional classes.
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“Low Ability” Students Improve the Most!”
Further, the above EQUATIONS study indicated
that the greatest increase in achievement occurred
among students in classes previously identified as
“low ability”. It is critical for students at all ability levels
to have their success recognized and reinforced in any
competitive activity (including school). At a time when
most urban U.S. school districts face extreme
challenges, these results offer an effective solution for
students not served by traditional methods of
instruction, grade competition and curriculum
tracking. There are much more effective and enjoyable
methods to inspire all levels of learners in a class
simultaneously. It is not necessary to settle for lowered
expectations in any group.
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Dramatically Improved Attendance
Some urban schools in the U.S. have
absenteeism rates as high as 30% on any given day.
For such schools, attendance is one of the most
pragmatic predictors of student attitudes and
resulting retention and graduation rates. A
controlled year-long study (1976) in inner city math
classes using the same teachers to conduct both
control and experimental classes found that the
absentee rate for students participating in
twice-a-week EQUATIONS classroom tournaments
was reduced to less than one third that of students
receiving only traditional math instruction. Amazingly
this beneficial effect on attendance carried over to the
other subjects and classes that the games students
were enrolled in.
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Further, students switched from games math classes in the first semester to traditional math instruction for the second semester resumed their poor attendance behavior at a rate approximately double that of their own absentee rate during the first semester. Clearly, EQUATIONS tournaments in math class had a profound impact on student attitudes toward learning in general and participation at the most fundamental level.
Increased Skill in Applying Math Ideas
In 1977, a study was published showing that
students learning specific math concepts in the
complex problem-solving environment of an
EQUATIONS match understand and apply those
concepts more deeply.
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Students engaging in regular classroom EQUATIONS
tournaments were exposed to a series of specially
designed teaching matches in which they were
taught specific new math concepts in a simulated
game situation. These students were significantly
more effective at recognizing relevance and applying
the targeted concepts than students from any of the
control groups (including students who regularly
played EQUATIONS but were taught the targeting
ideas through traditional instruction.)
This result was the impetus for a decade-long project
to develop a comprehensive series of computerized
teaching matches, each designed to teach a specific
math concept. The resulting DIG Math Program and
the EQUATIONS Challenge Matches programs cover
a broad curriculum in this manner. When used along
with regular classroom EQUATIONS tournaments,
these programs offer an encyclopedia of new ideas
that can be rapidly circulated among the gaming
group.
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Dramatic Success in Reinforcing Specific Concepts through Simple Scoring Methods
Continued experimentation and evolution of game
rules have extended the range of curriculum topics
dealt with by EQUATIONS and other similar games.
It has also led to surprising discoveries about the
motivational impact of how games are scored. In 1978,
a study was published on the effect of offering bonus
points in scoring to students who used specific math
concepts in the solutions they presented during
EQUATIONS matches. Over the course of a year,
students in classes using this special scoring system
mastered the targeted concepts at a level 200% to
300% higher than students in classes using
EQUATIONS without the special scoring system.
This increase in mastery of specific concepts was
over and above the general achievement gains
usually associated with EQUATIONS tournaments
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in class. The fact that the learning of specific concepts can be so readily accelerated by such simple methods is astonishing, but it highlights the quality of attention that students will give to activities that “really matter”.
Future Directions for Research – the “Basic Skills Testing” Conundrum
The current national emphasis on standardized
testing of minimum skills as a yardstick for teacher
and administrative competence should hopefully
fuel the search for programs that can dramatically
improve performance on such tests. Unfortunately,
in many schools, the result has been vastly increased
classroom time spent on “preparing” for the tests
(not surprising, given the stakes). Teachers who now
spend a month or more drilling classes on material
from this all-important determiner of funding and
job security are not likely to feel there is time to
spare for additional programs – however useful.
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Study and Beta Test Schools Welcome
Experiences in schools using EQUATIONS
tournaments strongly suggest that dramatic gains
in basic skills test scores are possible – without formal
“test preparation”. Learning basic skills in order to
engage in an integrated, higher-order thinking activity
is a lot more inspiring than endless drills on isolated
skills. Further, the repeated practice of a series of
individual skills does not necessarily lead to synthesis
and integration any more than the separate exercise of
the individual muscles involved in bicycle riding will
teach you how to ride one. The authors of the
Instructional Gaming Program would welcome districts
seeking to document the effect of EQUATIONS
tournaments on improved standardized test scores.
However, decades of experience suggests that
successful research studies do not necessarily cause a
stampede to implementation.
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We are currently developing video and internet-
based professional development courses and
internet-based games tournaments that will allow
class matches to be conducted outside normal
school hours from home or other sites. These
innovations should reduce costs for imple-
mentation and deliver the full benefit of the
program with reduced class time. Hopefully,
these developments can overcome the final hurdles
to widespread implementation. WFF ‘N PROOF
Publishers welcomes inquiries from educators,
parents and corporations interested in
participating in or promoting these projects.
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